That's What Friends Are For
by The Last Moongazer
Summary: My first challenge for ImagineClan! Nightpaw and Flamepaw have always been close. But after an incident, Flamepaw abandons her former best friend, growing distant and cruel. Soon, Nightpaw finds herself faced with a choice in battle, one that centers on friendship and forgiveness...a choice that a life depends on. Rated T for some violence.


**Here's the very first challenge entry for ImagineClan! I made the challenge myself, and now I'm submitting something for it. I hope you like my idea-I thought it fit the quote really well.**

**If you haven't already, I suggest you check out ImagineClan-it's awesome! (I created it myself!)**

**Finally, please review! I really love getting feedback on my writing. It helps me a lot. :)**

**Now, on to the challenge!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors, I only own the plotline and my characters...yeah, you guys know the drill.**

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_A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down._

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Breathing heavily, Nightpaw gazed out over the battlefield. The cuts on her side stung, and her shoulder was throbbing where a claw had sliced it, but she was determined to keep fighting until the battle was over.

Suddenly, her vision blurred as a huge brown blur slammed into her, claws outstretched. Nightpaw screeched in pain, but stubbornly jumped back to fight with the brown tabby tom who had attacked her.

"Pick on someone your own size," she snarled, dodging his strikes and landing a blow on his shoulder.

The tom growled. "Who cares? This is a battle." He leaped toward her, trying to knock her paws out from under her.

Nightpaw quickly hopped to the side and leaped after him, flattening him just after he hit the ground. He grunted and tried to roll over, but Nightpaw was ready. She nimbly jumped over him, pinned him again, and raked her claws fiercely down his back.

The cowardly tom howled in pain, struggling away from her and sprinting out of the battlefield into the undergrowth.

Nightpaw snorted. His battle skills were pathetic.

She turned around, bright green eyes scanning the field for another enemy to fight.

Then she heard it.

The terror-filled scream.

Nightpaw whipped around sharply and saw Flamepaw trapped underneath a lithe gray she-cat.

Time seemed to freeze for Nightpaw as memories flashed through her mind and her paws refused to move.

_"Come on, Nightkit! Let's go to the elder's den!" a ginger kit squealed, bouncing_ _around her shy black-furred friend._

_Nightkit hesitantly agreed, and trailed a tail-length behind Flamekit as she padded slowly to the elder's den._

_Flamekit noticed that the other kit was lagging behind. Quietly, she fell back until she was walking next to Nightkit, tail draped comfortingly across her shoulders._

_"Don't worry." Flamekit mewed softly. "They won't snap at you again. I don't care if you're not Clanborn, or if you're not even my sister. I'll make sure they won't be mean. And if they are, I'll make them sorry they ever set eyes on you!"_

_Nightkit nodded shakily and licked Flamekit's ear. "Thank you, Flamekit."_

Another memory pushed it's way forward in Nightpaw's mind. The battle was still frozen to her, as if time itself had stopped.

_"Flamepaw! Nightpaw! Flamepaw! Nightpaw!" the Clan cheered, as the two new apprentices stood side by side, beaming with pride._

_Flamepaw turned to her best friend. "We can finally go train together!" she purred, bouncing a little on her paws._

_Nightpaw nodded happily. "We can learn to hunt and fight, and we can get our names together, and…"_

_"Flamepaw! Nightpaw! Are you planning to take until moonhigh? Let's go!" a brown cat called crossly from where he was waiting with a white she-cat near the entrance._

_Flamepaw looked at Nightpaw. "We're going to explore!" she breathed, bounding away._

_Nightpaw ran after her friend, calling for her to wait up._

The scene switched, to a later memory, where Nightpaw's world had started to suddenly change.

_"Great catch, Nightpaw!" her mentor called, looking pleased._

_Nightpaw sat up with the huge pheasant next to her, a happy expression on her face. "Let's go show everyone at camp!" she purred, heaving the hefty bird onto her back and lugging it through the forest, mentor padding behind her._

_When she reached the camp, she was swarmed. Cats surged around her, praising her, telling her how good she was at hunting, taking the enormous prey and dividing it up for the entire Clan to feast on. Nightpaw was fairly glowing with pride in her achievement. Her catch was amazing!_

_Finally, she saw Flamepaw. The ginger she-cat was sitting at the edge of the clearing, half-hidden by shadows. A bitter look was on her face. As Nightpaw padded toward her, she whipped around and stalked into the shade of the apprentices den._

That was the turning point in their relationship. From that day on, since Nightpaw made that big catch, their close friendship slowly disintegrated like a dead leaf under snow.

_"Flamepaw! Flamepaw!" Nightpaw called, running after the ginger apprentice._

_Flamepaw spun around and glared at her. "What do you want?"_

_Nightpaw shrank back. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to go hunting with me…" she whispered._

_Flamepaw hissed at her. "Why? So you can make another huge catch that will make the entire Clan fall all over themselves for you and forget me, and that squirrel I caught that was the biggest any cat had ever seen?"_

_Nightpaw stood frozen in shock as she watched Flamepaw storm out of camp._

A final memory thrust into Nightpaw's vision as she stood on the battlefield, the scene still frozen as Nightpaw remembered her entire relationship with Flamepaw.

_A pure black she-cat darted across a grassy clearing towards where a ginger she-cat was grooming herself._

_"Flamepaw, why won't you talk to me?" the black cat pleaded, winding around Flamepaw so she couldn't run away._

_"Get away from me, foxheart," Flamepaw snarled, ducking underneath Nightpaw and walking away._

_Nightpaw dashed up to Flamepaw's side. "Please, Flamepaw, tell me what I did to you?" she begged, gazing at Flamepaw with wide, desperate green eyes._

_Flamepaw's face was twisted with anger. "What did you do to me?! You ruined me! You stole all the attention and never let me shine! My mentor is always saying, 'Why can't you be like Nightpaw'! Do you know how much that hurts?"_

_Flamepaw turned away. "You're not my best friend anymore," she sneered. "You're only a rogue-born good-for-nothing snob."_

_Nightpaw gazed sorrowfully after the retreating figure of the cat she had once been like a sister to. She was too far away to see the flicker of regret in Flamepaw's stubborn blue eyes._

_"I'm sorry, Flamepaw."_

All of a sudden, the battle unfroze.

Nightpaw's mind was made up. Flamepaw may not like her anymore, but that didn't mean that Nightpaw didn't care for her former best friend.

She sprinted towards the small figure of Flamepaw, pinned under the gray she-cat who was leaning down towards her neck, teeth bared.

Nightpaw barreled into Flamepaw, knocking her out of the way into a puddle of mud on the ground. But it was too late to stop the gray cat, who instead of biting Flamepaw's neck, accidentally sank her teeth into Nightpaw's injured flank instead.

Flamepaw was horrified and overcome with remorse as she watched Nightpaw go limp from pain, bleeding from the large wound in her side that was staining her black fur red with blood. She had ignored Nightpaw and made her the subject of all her hatred for moons, and suddenly Nightpaw came and saved her life. What kind of a cat was she to deserve saving? She was a jealous, selfish brat who probably shouldn't have been saved-but she was anyway, by Nightpaw.

She couldn't let her down.

Flamepaw leaped onto the gray cat in a flurry of claws, biting and clawing every patch of fur she could reach. The gray cat was rendered immobile with shock, and her efforts to defend herself were pointless as Flamepaw fought with unheard-of ferocity.

Flamepaw finally let the cat go when she howled for mercy, gray fur no longer visible under the gaping wounds that Flamepaw's claws had torn.

When the gray cat had limped away, Flamepaw turned to Nightpaw. Blood was still dripping sluggishly from her side. She needed a medicine cat, and fast.

Flamepaw grabbed Nightpaw's scruff, and dragged her back in the direction of camp.

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Nightpaw woke up in a thick, soft nest of moss. Her flank was throbbing dully. She lifted her head slowly, wincing at the pain. Her side was covered in sticky cobwebs and dried herb pulp. A blurry ginger figure was sitting next to her.

Nightpaw blinked. Her blurry eyes sharpened and the fuzzy figure became Flamepaw.

"Flamepaw?" Nightpaw rasped. "Where…"

"We're in the medicine den," Flamepaw mewed softly, leaning down to smooth Nightpaw's nest. "You took a pretty bad wound from that cat."

Nightpaw didn't know why in StarClan Flamepaw was being friendly, but she rejoiced in it, and was determined to seize the moment while it lasted.

"How long have I been out?" she asked, laying her head down again.

"Just since the battle. It's almost moonhigh now." Flamepaw replied, shuffling her paws slightly.

They were silent for a few moments, until Flamepaw burst out, "I guess I owe you now."

Nightpaw tilted her head. "Why?"

Flamepaw sighed. "You saved my life and got injured instead of me. And-"

Nightpaw shook her head. "I'll be fine. Really, don't worry about it."

Flamepaw continued. "-I'm sorry I've been such a foxheart and mousebrain, because you're the best friend anyone could ever have, and it was dumb of me to be jealous of you and hate you for nothing at all…can you forgive me?"

At that moment, Nightpaw was happier than she had been in a long time. She had her best friend back! She reached up to touch Flamepaw's nose with her own. "Of course I can," she purred. "I'll always be there for you. That's what friends are for."

Flamepaw sighed happily, settling down next to Nightpaw. "I'm glad you're here."

Nightpaw yawned, shifting into a more comfortable position. "We'll always be like sisters, won't we?"

"Of course," Flamepaw mewed. "And this time nothing is going to come between us!"

"You're my best friend now, Flamepaw." Nightpaw mewed, closing her eyes. The last thing she heard before drifting off to sleep was Flamepaw's soft voice in her ear.

_"You'll always be my best friend too." _

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**Awww...they're such good friends, it makes it absolutely adorable (in my eyes, at least). :)**

**Hope you enjoyed that! Remember to review!**


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